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Cunningham Group is here for Louisiana Physicians & Medical Professionals

We are Medical Malpractice Insurance Specialists helping physicians, medical professionals and medical groups across specialties get medical malpractice coverage at cost-effective rates â€“ as well as providing valuable tools and resources.

EXPERIENCED

Founded in 1947, our experienced liability specialists will customize a policy to the specific needs of you and your practice.

PHYSICIAN DISCOUNTS

Get all the physician discounts you are entitled to, including: Risk Management, Claims-free and New to Practice.

We publish historic rate data for every county in the State, in partnership with the Medical Liability Monitor â€“ the nationâ€™s leading independent source of Medical Liability Insurance and healthcare industry news.

The Louisiana Malpractice Landscape

Despite having passed comprehensive reforms to its medical liability system as early as 1975, rates in Louisiana tend to be high, especially compared with neighboring states. Though Louisiana has a cap on damages and is one of the few states with a Patient Compensation Fund (PCF), malpractice rates have remained stubbornly high. Much of this may be due to the stateâ€™s overall tort climate, which, according to the Institute for Legal Reform (ILR), is one of the nationâ€™s worst. The ILR, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, ranked Louisiana as 49 out of the 50 states in its 2015 report, Ranking the States: A Survey of the Fairness and Reasonableness of State Liability Systems. Louisiana ranked at or close to the bottom in every measure, including judgesâ€™ impartiality and competence; jury fairness; damages; treatment of scientific and technical evidence; timeliness of summary judgment or dismissal; and having and enforcing meaningful venue requirements. New Orleans and Orleans Parish were also singled out as among the worst jurisdictions in the country for tort cases.

Tort Reform in Louisiana

Medical liability reform came to Louisiana early on, with the passage of the Louisiana Medical Malpractice Act (LMMA) of 1975. The Act came in response to the medical liability crisis of the early-1970s, which saw the rate of claims more than double nationwide, leading to double-digit rate increases in physician premiums. The LMMA attempted to combat this trend through a three-pronged approach, including: 1. A $500,000 cap on total damages in medical malpractice cases (not including future medical costs); 2. The establishment of a Patient Compensation Fund, which provides for claim payments in excess of $100,000, up to the $500,000 damage cap; and 3. Creation of a medical review panel, comprised of three healthcare professionals and one non-voting attorney. The panel must determine whether a defendant acted within the appropriate standard of care and, if not, the panel must provide an opinion on whether or not the defendantâ€™s actions contributed to the injury. The panelâ€™s report is considered expert testimony and may be presented at trial.

Physicians and healthcare providers must meet certain requirements to be protected by the LMMA and participate in the stateâ€™s PCF. Physicians must carry at least $100,000 in primary insurance coverage from a traditional insurer â€“ or self-insure by posting a $125,000 security bond â€“ and pay a surcharge to the PCF. The PCF pools the risk of claims in excess of the required $100,000, so that the plaintiffâ€™s total possible recovery is $500,000 plus future medical costs, which are paid by the PCF as they are incurred.

Louisiana has also reformed its joint-and-several liability laws to make defendants liable for only their share of damages and added a fee requirement when requesting that a case be reviewed by the medical review panel to help weed out frivolous claims. In 2006-07, a strong challenge to Louisianaâ€™s damage cap was raised when the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the stateâ€™s damage cap to be unconstitutional, as it was not indexed for inflation and did not provide an â€śadequate remedyâ€ť for those injured by a healthcare provider with medical damages in excess of $500,000. However, the Louisiana Supreme Court voided the decision on procedural grounds. In 2011, Louisiana legislatures attempted to pass a bill, known as SB 61, which would have secured the damage cap going forward by amending the state constitution to give the legislature the explicit power to â€śdetermine limitations on liability damages in medical or health care liability claims and other claims against healthcare providers.â€ť Though SB 61 died in committee, the stateâ€™s damage cap remains in place for now.

Does Louisiana haveâ€¦

Damage Caps? Yes, total damages are capped at $500,000, not including future medical expenses.

Patient Compensation Fund? Yes, the Louisiana Patient Compensation Fund provides $400,000 for each claim for qualified providers, plus future medical expenses as they are incurred. Louisiana physicians must have insurance to cover the first $100,000 of any claim and to qualify for participation in the fund.

Apology Law? Yes, any communication including oral or written statements, gestures, or conduct expressing or conveying apology, regret, grief, sympathy, commiseration, condolence, compassion or a general sense of benevolence.

Collateral Source Reform? No

Periodic Payments? Yes, periodic payments are used for amounts that come from the stateâ€™s Patient Compensation Fund.

Joint Liability Reform? Yes, defendants are only proportionately responsible for their share of negligence.

Limits on Plaintiff Attorneyâ€™s Fees? No

Medical Malpractice Rates in Louisiana

Overview

Medical malpractice rates in Louisiana are high, but they have been coming down in recent years. Louisiana physicians must purchase both their own insurance and pay a surcharge to participate in the stateâ€™s Patient Compensation Fund. Combined premiums for both can be found for under $75,000 for specialists like obstetricians, and are generally in the mid-to-high teens for general practitioners.

Get Historic Rates

By combining our efforts with those of the Medical Liability Monitor â€“ the nationâ€™s leading independent source of Medical Liability Insurance news, as well as the political, legal and risk management issues that affect the healthcare industry â€“ weâ€™ve published historic rate data for every parish in the Pelican State. You can view all the rates by completing the three simple steps on the left of this page. Youâ€™ll find the insights offered by this information invaluable when making your decision on your medical malpractice insurance coverage and carriers. This is only one of the many reasons that Cunningham Group Insurance has become the preferred online source for Louisiana physicians, healthcare professionals and medical groups looking to find the best coverage and lower their medical malpractice insurance rates.

Coverage by Louisiana Parish

Rather than counties, Louisiana is divided into 64 parishes. Rates are constant across the state, even including areas like Orleans Parish, which includes the city of New Orleans, or East Baton Rouge Parish, which is the stateâ€™s most populous parish.